Student Organizations

GSE Organizations   University-Wide Organizations    International Student Organizations

At GSE

Announcements of events for all GSE student organizations can be found on the Student Lounge bulletin board and by e-mail.

GSE Student Government  (GSESG) is an important part of Student Affairs at GSE. In addition to representing the student body of GSE, the SG supports and allocates funds to all Student Organizations. Contact Student Affairs at gse-staf@gse.upenn.edu if you want to get involved during the academic year.

The Association of African American Graduate Students in Education (AAAGSE) is a supportive network at GSE for African American students. AAAGSE's main goal is to create an environment at GSE that enables African American students to utilize their unique gifts and talents fully in their chosen fields. AAAGSE sponsors social events, poetry readings, interest dinners and community service projects. Contact Chonika Coleman at chonika8@gmail.com, or Lee Jackson at aleshad@dolphin.upenn.edu.

Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in Education (AAPIE) Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are often invisible in educational research and discourse. AAPIE is open to anyone interested in discussing and raising awareness of issues that pertain to AA/PI in the field of education - both K-12 and Higher Education. This group is open to Master's and Doctoral level students who are committed to having intellectual conversations about race and ethnicity and their relationships to and with education. For more information contact Jessica Kim at msjessicakim@gmail.com.

The Educational Linguistics Forum (ELF) explores the dynamic relationship between linguistics and education by supporting and promoting student research in the transdisciplinary field of educational linguistics. Please contact Bridget Goodman at bgoodman@dolphin.upenn.edu or Genevieve Leung at gleung@gmail.com.

Education Policy Discussion Group (EPDG) provides a forum for students to share expertise across programs and cohorts as well as stimulates dialogue on a variety of topics related to educational policy. For more information, visit our webpage or contact Clarisse Haxton at clarisse@dolphin.upenn.edu, David Seidenfeld at davidse@dolphin.upenn.edu, or Rachel Fester at rfester@dolphin.upenn.edu.

Educators as Writers (EAW) is a student group dedicated to sharing and improving academic writing. This is a group of doctoral students who are committed to creating a forum where writing is explicitly and thoroughly discussed and shared. For more information contact Jessica Kim at kjessica@dolphin.upenn.edu.

Great China Students and Scholars Association (GCSSA) represents all Chinese and Taiwanese students and scholars at GSE. It aims to provide academic and social resources, strengthen friendships, and promote Chinese and Taiwanese culture at Penn. If interested please contact Qiqi Wang at qiqi@dolphin.upenn.edu.

GSE Online Journal: Penn GSE Perspectives on Urban Education Penn GSE Perspectives on Urban Education provides an interactive forum to investigate critical issues in urban education. It fosters conversations about the complexities of urban education among practitioners, researchers, policymakers and graduate students. It hopes to increase cooperation and understanding among all those concerned about urban education. Contact Rashmi Kumar at rashmik@dolphin.upenn.edu or go to http://www.urbanedjournal.org/.

GSE/Teach for America Urban Teacher Program Student Advisory Council works on behalf of all first and second year Master's and certification students at GSE who are full-time teachers in Philadelphia public schools and corps members of Teach for America (TFA). If interested please contact Dina Portnoy at dportnoy@gse.upenn.edu.

International Student Support Group (ISSG) is committed to providing suggestions, helping pinpoint resources, answering questions, and addressing concerns specific to international students. The principal goal of ISSG is to support international students so that they may reach their academic and personal goals while at Penn. For more information, contact Zehua Li at zzehuali@yahoo.com. 

The Japanese Student Association (JSA) is designed to help Japanese students exchange information about issues at GSE, job and career opportunities, and to strengthen friendships between Japanese students. For more information, please contact Asako Yoshino at asako@dolphin.upenn.edu. 

Korean Student Association (KSA) was established to help students interested in Korea share information related to academia as well as life in Philadelphia and at Penn. They hold regular meetings to discuss current educational issues in Korea and in the States. For more information, contact Tei Kang at sunghokang@hotmail.com.

National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) The mission of the University of Pennsylvania chapter of the National Science Teachers Association is to explore science learning with the goal of making science education more accessible and relevant to students. We explore science education opportunities in and around Philadelphia, and establish an ongoing science resource library. We also work towards integrating science content with other subject areas. For more information, please contact John-Carlos Marino at marinoj@dolphin.upenn.edu.

Out-Ed provides a variety of educational, cultural, and social activities for students interested in gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and queer issues in education. For more information, please contact David Soo at davidtsoo@gmail.com.

The Part-Time Student Association strives to help part-time students connect through a variety of social events through the year such as happy hours, daytime family excursions, and other activities outside normal working hours. We provide resources to help our fellow part-time access valuable administrative information and requirements. For more information, please contact Katie Krimmel at kimmel2@wharton.upenn.edu or Sean Tucker at Tuckers@mail.med.upenn.edu.

Student Community in Reading Writing Literacy (SCRWL) The purpose of SCRWL is to provide a group that is driven by the unique needs of reading, writing and literacy doctoral students at all stages of their studies. This community enables students to act as resources to one another through sharing information, offering feedback, building professional networks, and fostering dialogue about issues in our field and professional lives. For more information contact Kathleen Riley at rileyk@dolphin.upenn.edu.

Teach-Ins: Learning from the Experts in Each of Us is a workshop project organized to cooperatively share the knowledge, wisdom, experience and insight that each person brings to GSE.  The intention is to encourage informal, out-of-classroom spaces of learning, examination, sharing and discussion.  Our aim is to create an introspective community of colleagues among the students, faculty and staff of GSE.  For more information, please contact Melissa Kapadia-Bodi at melk@gse.upenn.edu.

UPenn TESOL Taiwanese Student Association (UTTSA) provides a forum where students can discuss how to combine TESOL theories with practice, how to improve English skills, and how to manage course work. UTTSA also coordinates networking opportunities with alumni, where current students can learn about their work experiences and the PhD application process. For more information, please contact Patrick Chiu at coolpat64@gmail.com

White Students Confronting Racism (WSCR) The focus of the group will be to examine and confront racism in our society, our schools, GSE, and most importantly, in ourselves.  It will be a space for self-examination where we can ask questions, talk about experiences that we are confused about, and share thoughts on readings, books and film clips that provoke discussion.  Students of all races are welcome to join this group.  The only requirement for joining the group is a willingness to help white people learn more about and fight against racism. For more information, please contact Ali Michael allisonsibley@yahoo.com at or Sarah Burgess at burgess202@hotmail.com.

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University-Wide 

A full listing of student group web pages at Penn is available at http://dolphin.upenn.edu/.

The Graduate and Professional Student Association (GAPSA) is the University-wide government for graduate and professional students, interacting regularly with the President, Provost, Board of Trustees, and other University officials. GAPSA is governed by elected representatives from each of Penn's twelve schools and a student executive board. GAPSA also works with the student governments of individual schools and with other specialized student governments at Penn. Click here to see GAPSA's constitution.  You can represent the interests of GSE by attending monthly meetings (lunch is provided).  Our GSE representative is Jennifer Johnson jennifmj@dolphin.upenn.edu.

Graduate Inter-School Activities Council (GISAC) is an autonomous committee of GAPSA. GISAC includes ethnic, cultural and sports clubs. Contact: 251 Houston Hall, 215-898-3150.

Black Graduate And Professional Student Association (BGAPSA) is a federation of African American graduate students at Penn. Members are drawn from all 12 schools and serve as the main political voice for black students. Contact: 251 Houston Hall, 215-898-1495.

Lambda Grads provides social, educational and political activities for students from the 12 schools. The group meets every Friday night in Houston Hall. Contact: Lesbian, Gay and Bi-Sexual Alliance, 243 Houston Hall, 215-898-5270.

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For International Students

These nationality clubs include:

  • The Association of Chinese Students (People's Republic of China)
  • The Association of Turkish Students
  • The Chinese Graduate & Professional Student Association (Taiwanese)
  • The Graduate Pakistani Student Association
  • The Korean Graduate Student Association
  • The Lebanese Club
  • The Muslim Student Association (Friday prayer 1pm, 245 Houston Hall)
  • The Penn African Student Association

International students elect a representative to GAPSA each year. For more information contact the Office of International Programs, 133 Bennett Hall, 215-898-4661.